Hockey ace Iain Scholefield helped Scotland ease into the second round of the inaugural World League ... and then declared: “You’ve not seen the best of us yet.”

Paisley-born defender Scholefield skippered the Bravehearts as they thumped Morocco 9-0, put five past Gibraltar, smashed Portugal for seven and added another nine against Italy – all without conceding a single goal – to claim a place in next year’s tournament.

The former Kelburne star, who now plays his hockey in Holland, said: “It was a great achievement for the team not to concede a goal and this is a really good benchmark for the future.

“Scoring 30 goals was enjoyable, but the squad feel that number could have been higher.”

Scotland were the highest ranked team in the tournament, which took place at Lousada, Portugal.

They are 23rd in the world, with Morocco ranked at number 60, Gibraltar at 43, Portugal at 50 and Italy at 28.

Scholefield said: “It was a first for the team to go into a tournament being by far the favourites.

“We had to work hard to maintain our focus throughout the games and keep the high standards that we had set within the squad.”

Despite recording easy victories, former Glasgow University civil engineering student Scholefield reckons Scotland failed to find top gear in their first two games.

He added: “As a squad, we made too many mistakes and missed a lot of chances. However, our performances improved greatly in the last two games.”

Scholefield also admits it was hard to play against lower ranked times because of their unorthodox style of play.

He said: “The spirit and desire of the team was very encouraging. We played for the full 70 minutes and scored a number of our goals towards the end of the games.

“The squad currently has a good balance of experienced and younger players, and there is a really good feeling around at the moment.

“However, it is important that every player looks into areas that they can still develop.

“Also, the players who didn’t make it into the team for Portugal will be extremely determined to force their way into the squad for World League Two.

“Every player will go back to their clubs knowing where they have to improve. Whether it is technical or conditioning, everybody will be working hard over the next few months.”

Scholefield has also heaped praise on Scotland’s head coach Derek Forsyth.

He said: “Derek has worked very hard to give the team everything that it may need, whether it is training kit or heart rate monitors.

“Everything is improving gradually, so it is important every player keeps pushing themselves to ensure we perform at a high level at World League Two and the Europeans in Azerbaijan during the summer.”

And Scholefield has warned his team-mates to expect tougher competition in World League Two.

He added: “Everything will have to be perfect for us to progress to round three, but I feel we have the potential to get results when needed. We have shown we can compete but we need to bring more consistency into our game.”

Scholefield also has plenty to look forward to at club level, where he is starring for Dutch outfit Qui Vive in the Overgangsklasse.

He said: “It is really good to play at a higher standard and experience a different style of play.

“We are currently sitting in second place in our pool and are on course to make the promotion pool but we have a number of very important games coming up.

“However, it has been great to put myself out of my comfort zone and develop a different skills-set.”